Transformers: Age of Extinction

Contrary to many users here and the rating of the film in general, I liked the fourth episode of Transformers more than its predecessor, which is also due to the recasting of Shia LaBeouf, who was very annoying in the third. While Mark Wahlberg is not to blame for the somewhat crappy script, he was nevertheless much more tolerable, which cannot be said for his daughter and her boyfriend, who were similarly annoying as Shia. The partner-family story line went completely over my head and the film could have done without it just fine. Stanley Tucci could have been given more space and Kelsey Grammer was fine, but his villain didn't have enough charisma. To accuse the film of an over-long running time, lack of emotion and a silly script would be like carrying firewood into the woods, as the franchise builds on this combination – and in this case it bothered me less than with the third part. As for the technical execution, it is again an audiovisual orgy, of which I liked the alien ship, the escape from it and the final battle in Hong Kong the most. Besides that, as a die-hard dinosaur fan, I liked the film incorporated these giant creatures into the plot, even though it might have looked excessive. In the end, it's a weaker three stars, but since I found Extinction better than its predecessor, I'll give it a boost to differentiate the two works qualitatively. If I’d seen the film in the cinema, however, it would be a clean three stars. (01/09/2019)

Of course, I didn't expect a high-quality intelligent film, but that was to be expected. The Transformers' transformations are still great, and I was most excited about the robodinosaurs, which were simply amazing. However, it's still the same disgusting Bay's concoction, consisting of a lot of technology, slow-motion shots, and untalented actresses. Some dialogues are truly pathetic... (14/10/2014)

A dumb story is again plays a front for shifting the frontiers of special effects technology. Bay finds the most wonderful corners of our planet and uses them as the backdrop for impressive battle scenes. I still don’t understand how somebody can expect more from this than a visual feast and three hours of brain death. It’s just a shame that the female supporting role (she reminds me of the girl on YouTube with socks in her bra) is the weakest of the entire series. (20/09/2014)

It’s nice to watch how the behind this film know very well what the trendiest thing of day is, because almost everything is here. The ideal measurements of 90-60-90 for the main character, always dressed and made up exactly as it should look, the best sunny landscapes we could wish for, with of course great weather, the most modern cars of the last five years zooming by, and when we happen to encounter scene indoors, we have timeless square design and noble materials. The only thing missing are the men's sexy hairstyles that have been in fashion for the past two years – the guys here still stick to classics. It's as shallow as it can be, and it's meant to make a billion dollars. All of this is okay, but it shouldn't be a 165-minute borefest about crap. Basically, it doesn't matter if it's the second, third, or fourth installment, the concept is always the same. The introduction to the characters, filler (some sort of plot), and choose one big metropolis where the final opulent showdown will take place, where half of the skyscrapers, cars, and ships will be blown up. Visually, it's robust, but not inventive or even captivating (Zack Snyder with Man of Steel is a class above). All that remains then is amazement at how it's possible to shoot so many big explosions for just 210 million dollars, and you can look forward to more installments, because it will certainly have all the trendiest stuff in in all key segments at that time. (28/06/2014)

I give the fourth Transformers one more star than the previous ones, because it is the second best installment of the series. The special effects are perfect, of course, but the good thing is that besides the robot fights, I was also interested in the humans this time, and the character of Stanley Tucci was especially good. I liked the ending with the Dinobots very much, I was pleased that Michael Bay finally filmed the action clearly (he had practiced the long shots last time) and that there were not as many Autobots as before and they were more likeable - especially the bearded, cigar-wielding, John Goodman-voiced Hound. (27/06/2014)